Shoe straightener



Sept. 15, 1959 O R ETAL 2,903,726

SHOE STRAIGHTENER Filed May 51, 1957 INVENTORS f 1 1 Waficr sf Ru ukou V5512 r- United States Patent SHOE STRAIGHTENER Reinhold Viister,;S.tuttgart!-Degerloch, and Walter Viister, Stuttgart-Feuerbach, Germany, assignors to Vereinigte lBaubeschlag-Fabriken Gretsch & (30., G.m.b.H., Stuttgart-Feuerbach, Germany Application May .31, 1957, Serial N0. 662,716

Claims priority, application Germany June 12, 1956 3 Claims. (c1.-12-120.s)

The present inventionrelates'toa shoe straightener or the like, especially for ski boots .and similar sport shoes, and particularly to a straightener of the type which comrprises a pair of slide members which are adapted to be attached :to the lower'surface of the outershoe sole and care adjustable relativeto each other, and each of which carries a 'grippingmember which .is adapted to grip the "front or rear end ofthe shoe sole, respectively, so as to mount the sole in a straight position and thus maintain the shoe or'bootin its originalshape.

It is an object of the present invention .to provide a shoe straightener of the type as .described which is easily adjustable in length and adapted to be .tensioned on the sole of ashoe or 'boot withas little friction as possible.

This :new designof a shoe s'traightenerhas considerable advantages over others of JPl'lOI' design in which both the lengthadjustment and the tens'ioning operation is carried out by means of a tensioning' device which :connects the two slide members with-each other and requires them to v be-shifted relative to each :other in their longitudinal .direction inorder to clamp and straighten the sole of the shoe 'under tension with the result that, because of the friction then occurring between the two slide members, :such tensioning is made relatively 'diflicult.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a shoe straightener of the above-mentioned type which may be adjusted in accordance with the length of the shoe without also requiring the tensioning device to be adjusted or changed.

Accordingly, it is a feature of the present invention :to provide a tensioning device which connects one of the sole gripping members to the respective slide member independently of the means for changing the length of the shoe straightenerby adjusting the slide members rela tive toeach other.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a very advantageous and reliable means for guiding the slide members relative to each other and at the same time for reinforcing the slide members so as to make them veryrigid so that they will not bend'when the straightener is .tensioned on the shoe but will remain rigid substantially along their entire length.

Another object of the present invention is to provide very simple means for adapting and attaching the shoe straightener to the sole of a shoe or boot.

A further object of the invention is to provide very simple means WhiChF-BIB easily operated for adjusting the slidemembers ltO any desired length. It is for this purpose advisable to provide one of the two slide members with a pinlikevmember which may be brought into regis- Itry :and'locking engagement with any one of a series of stops on the otherslide member. These stops-may, for example, :consist of a series of interconnected apertures whiclrtogether 'form an alternately narrowing and widening's'lot whichmay thus,.forexample, have serrated edges. This slot anayibeioperatively associated with a shouldered pinmounted'on the other slide member. By sliding this pin "in axial direction either a port-ion thereof of smaller 2,903,726 Patented Sept. 15, 19.59

diameter may then be brought .into registry with thenarrower portion of the slot and be .moved longitudinally along-suchslot, or .a portion of such pinof larger diameter may be brought into registry with and be inserted into one of the wider portions of the slot. The buttonlike pin is then preferably retained in its locking position by resilient means and :may be moved to the adjusting position against the actionof such resilient means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the shoe straightener with a spring member which is in terposed between one of the sole gripping members and the .tensioning device and is adapted to render an accurate lengthadjustment of the two slide members unnecessary by automatically compensating for any smaller differences between .the length of the shoe straightener 'and the lengthof the sole.

A further object of the invention which is :to be attained by the same spring member is to prevent the shoe straightener from working loose when the sole'of the shoe which at first had been bent gradually .straightens out under the action of the straightener. .In this connection it is advisable to mount the gripping members so asiO exert a pull upon the ends of the sole in a relatively steep downward direction.

Finally, it is an object of the invention to provide ,a shoe straightener, the individual parts of which are 50 connected to each other vas to prevent them from being accidentally separated or getting lost.

Further objects, features, and advantages ofthe present invention will be apparent from the :following detailed description thereof, particularly when read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 shows aside view of a shoe straightener accord ing to the invention attached to the sole of ashes or boot;

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the shoe straightener .accordingtoFig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a cross sectionon an enlarged scale taken along line 33 of Fig. 1; while Figs. 4 and 5 show two modifications of the part shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the shoe-straightener which is adapted to be attached to the tread surface of the sole of a shoe or boot consists of a pair of metal'str'ips .or plates 11 and 12, one of which is crimped over the other so as to permit them to slide telescopically ailong veachother in a straight longitudinal direction. The outer strip 11 carries a gripping member 13 of Wire which is suitably bent so as to engage over the rim of the sole at the front end thereof and is :pivotally mounted on strip 11 in a pair of holes in the side walls thereof at 1341. The rear strip 12 also carries gripping member 14 which consists of two parts, namely, a substantially :U-shaped wire bracket 14a and ,a ,U-shaped wire 14b which is connected to the central part of bracket 14;: so as to be pivotable thereon but only from a substantially vertical position in a direction toward the heel of the shoe. For this purpose, the two portions of wire 14b are wrapped around wire 14a and the free ends 14d extend .outwardly so as to engage with wire 14a and act as stops.

The upper angular portion of wire 1412 which constitutes the actual gripping element is adapted to engage over the .upper rim of the heel. The entire gripping .member 14 is pivotally mounted on a tensioning lever '15 by means of the free inwardly bent ends of bracket 14a engaging in a pair of holes in the side walls of lever 15 ,eccentrically to the pivot pin 16 on which lever 15 is, in turn, pivotally mounted on a bracket 16a which extends downwardly from a point near the rear end .of strip 12.

For telescopically guiding strips 11 and 12 relative to each other, the lateral edge portions of the outer strip 11 according to the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3 are crimped around the longitudinal edges of the inner strip 12 so as to form a pair of flanges 17 facing toward each other. For adjusting the total length of the shoe straightener, strip 11 is provided with a central longitudinal slot 18 consisting of a series of interconnected bores 19 of an outer diameter D which, by intersecting each other, form a continuous serrated slot having an inner minimum width d.

A rivetlike pin 20, the shaft of which has a diameter al equal to or smaller than the inner width d of slot 18 has a head 21 adapted to fit into any one of bores 19. Head 21 has a diameted D corresponding to or slightly smaller than the diameter D of bores 19. A spring 22 surrounds the shaft of pin 20 and presses with its upper end against strip 12 and with its lower end against a dished washer 23a abutting a button 23 which is secured to the other end of pin 20, for example, by being riveted thereon.

For adjusting the shoe straightener to the length of the sole of a shoe or boot, button 23 is pressed upwardly in the direction shown by the arrow x to such an extent that head 21 of pin 20 will be lifted out of the respec tive bore 19 of slot 18 in which it was mounted. The two strips 11 and 12 may then be shifted relative to each other in their longitudinal direction by sliding the shaft portion 20 through the narrower part d of slot 18 and longitudinally thereof. After the shoe straightener has been adjusted to the desired length, button 23 is released so that spring 22 can press pin 20 downwardly until head 21 engages in one of bores 19 and thus locks the two strips 11 and 12 relative to each other.

When the shoe straightener is adjusted to its proper length, it may be attached to or removed from the sole of the shoe or boot by tensioning or releasing lever by pivoting the same about pin 16.

The modification of the invention as shown in Fig, 4 differs from the embodiment according to Figs. 1 to 3 by the provision of an angular edge portion 24 at each side of the inner strip 12 which is encompassed by an edge portion 25 of the outer strip 11 which is first bent over downwardly and then inwardly and upwardly around the other edge portion 24. The two strips 11 and 12 are thus connected to each other and are guided in a straight longitudinal direction along each other.

In the modification as shown in Fig. 5, both strips 11 and 12 are provided along their edges with a pair of tubular beads encompassing each other so that the inner bead 26 on strip 12 is enclosed by the outer bead 27 on strip 11.

Instead of being made of wire, one or both gripping members 13 and 14 may also be made relatively solid, for example, of sheet metal. Also, the front gripping member 13 may, if desired, be rigidly secured to the front end of strip ll or form an integral part thereof. Both gripping members 13 and 14 may, however, also be made of resilient material and either of spring wire or flat spring plate which is bent into the required shape andaccording to the preferred embodiment of the invention, one or both parts 14a and 14b of the rear gripping member 14 may be made of resilient material so that, when the straightener is attached to the upwardly curved sole of a shoe or boot, gripping member 14 will exert a resilient downward pull upon the heel and, when the sole gradually straightens out, gripping member 14 Wlll remain securely attached to the heel through such resiliency. In order to attain such resiliency, either one or both wires 14a and 14b may be suitably bent or the coiled portions 14c of wire 14a may form coil springs.

The resiliency of the gripping members, and especially of the rear gripping member 14, has the further advantage that strips 11 and 1.2 do not have to be very accurately adjusted according to the length of the sole and that minor differences between the length of the straightener and the length of the sole will be compensated by the resiliency of one or both gripping members.

Although our invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, we wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed our invention, what we claim is:

1. Shoe straightening device comprising, in combination, an elongated support including a pair of elongated slide members having guiding means thereon for guiding said slide members for longitudinal movement relative to each other, said elongated support being adapted to be placed on the bottom face of a shoe sole and having a front end adapted to be located at the forward end of the shoe sole, and a rear end adapted to be located spaced from the rear end of the heel portion of the shoe sole; a first hook-shaped gripping member secured to said front end of said support and adapted to engage the shoe sole at said forward end of the same; a tensioning device including a manually operated lever mounted at said rear end of said support for pivotal movement about a transverse pivot axis, a connecting link pivotally connected at one end thereof to said manually operated lever at a point spaced from said transverse pivot axis, and projecting in longitudinal direction from said rear end of said support and adapted to extend along said heel portion, a second hook-shaped gripping member pivotally connected to the other end of said link, and means connecting said second gripping member to said link and including spring means and stop means yieldingly holding said second gripping member in a position extending transverse to said longitudinal direction; and means for fixedly securing said slide members to each other in different longitudinally adjusted positions for adjusting the length of said elongated support to a length in which said other end of said link is adapted to be located in the region of said rear end of said heel portion of the shoe sole so that said second gripping member extends in direction of the thickness of the shoe sole when engaging the top face of said heel portion of the shoe sole at said rear end of the same whereby in one position of said manually operated lever means said second gripping member exerts on the shoe sole an oblique straightening force urging said rear end of said heel portion of the shoe sole toward said rear end of said support.

2. Shoe straightening device comprising, in combination, an elongated support including a pair of elongated slide members having guiding means thereon for guiding said slide members for longitudinal movement relative to each other, said elongated support being adapted to be placed on the botom face of a shoe sole and having a front end adapted to be located at the forward end of the shoe sole, and a rear end adapted to be located spaced from the rear end of the heel portion of the shoe sole, one of said slide members being formed with a plurality of interconnected stop openings forming a longitudinally extending serrated slot and having a top face; a first hook-shaped gripping member secured to said front end of said support and adapted to engage the shoe sole at said forward end of the same; a tensioning device including a manually operated lever mounted at said rear end of said support for pivotal movement about a transverse pivot axis, a connecting link pivotally connected at one end thereof to said manually operated lever at a point spaced from said transverse pivot axis, and projecting in longitudinal direction from said rear end of said support and adapted to extend along said heel portion, a second hook-shaped gripping member pivotally connected to the other end of said link, and means connecting said second gripping member to said link and including spring means and stop means yieldingly holding said second gripping memher in position extending transverse to said longitudinal direction; and means for fixedly securing said slide members to each other in different longitudinally adjusted positions for adjusting the length of said elongated support to a length in which said other end of said link is adapted to be located in the region of said rear end of said heel portion of the shoe sole so that said second gripping member extends in direction of the thickness of the shoe sole when engaging the top face of said heel portion of the shoe sole at said rear end of the same whereby in one position of said manually operated lever means said second gripping member exerts on the shoe sole an oblique straightening force urging said rear end of said heel portion of the shoe sole toward said rear end of said support, said means including a pin having a portion of greater diameter and a portion of smaller diameter, and being mounted on the other slide member for movement between a holding position in which said portion of greater diameter is located in one of said stop openings and an adjusting position in which said portion of smaller diameter is located in said serrated slot freely movable in longitudinal direction, said portion of greater diameter of said pin having a top face flush with said top face of said one slide member in said holding position of said pin and adapted to abut on the bottom of the shoe sole whereby movement of said pin to said adjusting position is prevented in tensioned position of said tensioning device.

3. Shoe straightening device comprising, in combination, an elongated support including a pair of elongated slide members having guiding means thereon for guiding said slide members for longitudinal movement relative to each other, said elongated support being adapted to be placed on the bottom face of a shoe sole and having a front end adapted to be located at the forward end of the shoe sole, and a rear end adapted to be located spaced from the rear end of the heel portion of the shoe sole; a first hook-shaped gripping member secured to one end of said support and adapted to engage the shoe sole at said forward end of the same; a tensioning device including a manually operated lever mounted at said rear end of said support from pivotal movement about a transverse pivot axis, a connecting link pivotally connected at one end thereof to said manually operated lever at -a point spaced from said transverse pivot axis, and projecting in longitudinal direction from said rear end of said support and adapted to extend along said heel portion, said connecting link having two longitudinally extending legs at said one end thereof, and a transverse portion connecting said legs at the other end thereof, and a second resilient gripping member having two legs and a hook-shaped transverse end portion connecting said legs and adapted to engage the top face of the rear end of said heel portion of the shoe sole, the free ends of said legs being coil-shaped and enveloping said transverse portion at said other end of said link for pivotally mounting said second gripping member on said link, said coil-shaped portions having free ends abutting on said legs of said link to limit pivotal movement of said second gripping member on said transverse portion of said link; and means for fixedly securing said slide members to each other in different longitudinally adjusted positions for adjusting the length of said elongated support to a length in which said other end of said link is adapted to be located in the region of said rear end of said heel portion of the shoe sole so that said second gripping member extends in direction of the thickness of the shoe sole when engaging the top face of the rear end of said heel portion of the shoe sole whereby in one position of said manually operated lever means said second gripping member exerts on the shoe sole an oblique straightening force urging said rear end of said heel portion end of the shoe sole toward said rear end of said support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 985,550 Reach Feb. 28, 1911 1,135,106 Gruenig Apr. 13, 1915 1,449,820 Jones Mar. 27, 1923 1,469,238 Newlin Oct. 2, 1923 1,774,200 Howe Aug. 26, 1930 1,808,828 Anderson June 9, 1931 1,943,657 Drury Jan. 16, 1934 2,189,366 Montague Feb. 6, 1940 2,266,258 Peirce et a1. Dec. 16, 1941 2,313,417 Anderson Mar. 9, 1943 2,346,344 Anderson Apr. 11, 1944 2,513,372 Shurtz July 4, '1950 2,625,696 Dahl Jan. 20, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 204,893 Germany Dec. 9, 1908 232,642 Germany Mar. 17, 1911 254,786 Switzerland May 31, 1949 587,725 France Jan. 21, 1925 

